The  western Plantain-eater is a large member of the turaco family.

This bird lives in open woodland habitats in tropical west Africa. Gray touracos attend all sorts of woodland and different types of crops. Their habitat ranges from arid steppes of acacias to the edges of rainforests. They are usually found from sea level up to 1300 meters. In Sierra Leone, these birds are very common in the palm areas, savannas, in the trees at the edge of meadows and swamps. They are from Africa, Central African Republic, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Cameroon, until Sudan.

In adults, the front, hood, chin, throat and cheeks are dark brown. The shaggy crest that falls on the neck is made of long, narrow brown feathers whose ends are whitish. The irises are dark brown, legs and feet are blackish brown. Juveniles are similar to adults but their crest is shorter.

It lays two or three eggs in a tree platform nest.

These are common, noisy and conspicuous birds, despite lacking the brilliant colours of relatives such as the Violet Turaco. They are 50 cm long, including a long tail. Their plumage is mainly grey above spotted with brown. The head, erectile crest, neck and breast are brown streaked with silver. The underparts are whitish, heavily streaked with brown.